


Warlord

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Angst and Feels, Best Friends, Brotp, Episode Related, Ficlet, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, GREAT BIG FLUFFY FLUFF, Hugs, Post-Episode: s02ep1-3 Orion Pax, Self Confidence Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 23:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1876347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was illogical, irrational even, but Ratchet still felt afraid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warlord

Ratchet had managed to keep himself under control in front of the others, but now he was alone in his room, pacing back and forth and massaging his hands to keep them from shaking. It wasn't working very well, he realized, staring at his relentlessly unsteady digits.

It was a great relief to have Optimus restored to them and everyone knew it, Ratchet not least of all, but...

It had been far too close. Megatron had been far too close and now...It was illogical, irrational even, but Ratchet still felt afraid. His terror had been shoved beneath the burden of taking charge in Optimus' absence and it was finally catching up with him.

Gasping, Ratchet fell onto his hands and knees, vents whirring with quiet moans. They had almost lost the war, lost Optimus. What would have happened to them if he, Ratchet, had been forced to take command permanently? Nothing good. He was nothing, no one, not even remotely worthy of being a leader. And the one person who was, all it had taken was a bout of amnesia for him to inadvertently turn Ratchet's world upside-down.

The worst part was that he didn't blame Optimus for any of it - he blamed himself. If he hadn't been so thoughtless, if he had researched, if he had really stopped to consider what ejecting the wisdom of the Primes entailed...

"Fragged, glitching, rusty, useless old tin can!" he sobbed through clenched teeth, banging his fists on the floor.

"Who?" Optimus asked from behind, making Ratchet whirl up and around so quickly that he stumbled. Optimus reached out swiftly and grabbed his shoulders, steadying him and staring at him with that expression of concern that could break him any time. Optimus' fingers flexed slightly on Ratchet's shoulders only a moment later and he murmured, "Ratchet, you're trembling."

"So what?" Ratchet muttered, shrugging Optimus' hands off and hugging his arms against his chest, putting a barrier between them.

"Are you hiding an injury from me?" Optimus tried. "Did Megatron wound you?"

 _Yes, to my very spark_ , Ratchet's processor agreed, but his mouth denied, "No, I'm alright. A bit bruised, but my self-repair systems will take care of it just fine."

"Then who were you berating so viciously?" Optimus questioned softly.

Even as his EM field flickered in defeat, Ratchet avoided optic contact with the Prime, half-hoping he was still hiding it and half-hoping that Optimus would figure it out. The latter unavoidably happened.

"Ratchet, I'm sure you were a fine leader in my absence. I thank you for taking charge, in fact, because you saved my life," Optimus told him fervently.

"No, I didn't! You knew what would most likely happen, so you gave Jack the key to Vector Sigma!" Ratchet shouted. "You saved your own life; I did _nothing_ , like the blasted, miss-clocked burnout I am!"

Optimus looked aghast. "You're nothing of the kind!" He took a step forward, trying to touch him.

"I'm a waste!" Ratchet argued as he backed up.

"No. I need you; we all do. You are our medic and without you the war would have been lost long ago."

"We almost lost today!" Ratchet barked. "I almost lost - " All his anger at himself suddenly vanished as he said it. "I almost...lost..."

Optimus' anger was gone too, replaced by confusion. "What?"

Wordlessly Ratchet shuffled forward, staring at Optimus as though he were seeing him for the first time. Shuttering his optics, he leaned forward, slipping his arms around the Prime's waist. Optimus stiffened, not out of discomfort but surprise.

"I almost lost my best friend," Ratchet whispered thickly. "And I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" Optimus echoed in dismay. "Ratchet, you did nothing."

"That's my point," Ratchet sighed. "I did nothing and because of it you lost your memory. If I had thought to research - "

"Ejecting the Matrix had never been done before," Optimus reminded him. "There was nothing for you to research."

"But I could have done something," Ratchet insisted miserably. "I'm not a warrior or a leader and that's what you really need - "

"No!" Optimus said again in such a forceful tone that Ratchet clamped his mouth shut. "That lie is exactly what made me turn against you in the first place."

Ratchet was stunned. He had thought that Optimus had lost all his memories from his time on the Nemesis and the things 'Megatronus' had told him...

"All I need," Optimus continued in a much calmer and gentler tone, "is for you to stay exactly where you are so I can reciprocate." He did just that, bending his knees slightly so he could return the embrace. "I should have seen through Megatron's lie from the start," he murmured after a few moments of silence, his voice filled with equal regret and affection. "No warlord could have a spark so warm."

Ratchet considered asking what other lies Megatron had said about him, but the thought was fleeting. He wasn't the cold warrior or the restrained leader. He was the doctor, the comfort to the wounded. Right now his wounded leader seemed to need the hug just as much as he did, if not more. Ratchet wasn't about to let him down.


End file.
